title: The potential use of blood culture systems for diagnosing intravascular catheter-related infections.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A microbiological method for the quantitative analysis of intravascular catheter infections using the BacT/Alert and Bactec blood culture systems is presented.
  
  
  METHODS
  The number of bacteria present on an intravascular catheter surface was determined by the time to detection of positivity in a blood culture bottle inoculated with a suspension of bacteria shaken from the catheter surface.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The new method was used to examine 573 intravascular catheters. In 94.6% of the cases, the results of microbiological analysis of catheters were in accordance with the patient's clinical condition. Twenty-eight (4.8%) cases were false positive and ten (1.7%) were false negative. Based on clinical signs, 49 cases of catheter-related sepsis were diagnosed. In 39 (79.6%) of those, the microbiological analysis of intravascular catheters was positive (kappa = 0.69). The most frequently detected pathogens were coagulase-negative staphylococci.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In comparison to the current procedures, the new method is easier, faster, and capable of detecting the most common causative agents of catheter-related infections.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Diagnostics, General University Hospital and 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. pavel.cermak@vfn.cz
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cermak
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cermakova
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schwarzerova
authors.forename: Michaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klementova
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ulrychova
authors.forename: Jaroslava
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mazurova
mesh_terms: D055499:Catheter-Related Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D008828:Microbiological Techniques / Q000379:methods*